


(so hold both your hands in) the holes of my sweater

by sadgaymermaids



Series: (Soul/Check)mates [2]
Category: The Queen's Gambit (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Childhood Friends to Lovers, F/M, but not really be true to canon, canon adjacent, it's gonna follow the same timeline and plot points of the show, like in sense8, the whole gangs here, they can visit each other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-16 07:20:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29449926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sadgaymermaids/pseuds/sadgaymermaids
Summary: A couple days later she is still thinking of the boy and she asks her mother about it.“That was your soulmate.”“My what?”“Your soulmate, your other half, the person your soul is connected to." At Beth's confused look she explains. "Every time someone is born at the exact same moment somewhere else in the world someone else is born. These two souls are linked together, they are soulmates. These soulmates are connected, you always have a sense of the other, where they are what they’re feeling and sometimes you can even visit them. You get pulled into their world and can feel and see everything around them.”“So that’s what happened to the boy, he visited me?”“Yes.”“Can I visit him?”“Maybe if you try really hard. But be careful you don’t want to be stuck somewhere you don’t know with a stranger.”“But he’s not a stranger, he's my soulmate.”
Relationships: Beth Harmon & Benny Watts, Beth Harmon & Jolene, Beth Harmon & Jolene & Benny Watts, Beth Harmon/Benny Watts
Series: (Soul/Check)mates [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2124756
Comments: 15
Kudos: 57





	(so hold both your hands in) the holes of my sweater

**Author's Note:**

> Hey y'all sorry for disappearing for a couple weeks, life got super busy all of a sudden but I'm back!
> 
> I hope everyone is well and excited for this new soulmate au.
> 
> I don't really know if this au has a name but it was inspired by a fic where Benny was like an angel on Beth's shoulder and helped her with her chess. This is similar to that but they are both each other's angels. In this au soulmates can visit each other (think sense8 if you have seen the show but only between two people) we will see in later chapters that different pairs can do it in different amounts. Unlike in the previous fic in this series, they know they are soulmates right off the bat. I'm not sure how closely I will be following the canon of the show but I do already have some ways to work in different plot points already.
> 
> Unlike with my previous fic this one will probably be quite a few chapters. I will also be uploading on a weekly schedule (as much as I love writing a 20k+ fic in a week I do not have the time or energy for that atm). 
> 
> Now, without further ado, please enjoy this first chapter

The first time Beth remembers meeting Benny she is 4. She is sitting watching out the window of the latest motel she and her mother are staying in. Her mother is in the shower, she can hear her soft singing through the door. Beth is watching the cars pass by outside when suddenly there is a boy next to her. He has floppy blond hair that curls at the end and big brown eyes. Beth knows she should probably be scared of this boy that just randomly showed up in her motel room, but she isn’t.

“Can I hide here for a bit?” He asks, she nods. He looks around the room. “Where are we?”

“We’re in a hotel room. How did you get here?”

“I don’t know. I was looking for a place to hide, Mommy and Daddy are yelling, and then suddenly I was here.”

Beth hears the bathroom door opening and turns back to the boy.

“Quick my Mommy’s coming, she told me not to talk to strangers.”

Beth turns to face her mother as she enters the room, she can sense the presence of the boy leaving behind her, disappearing just as quickly as he had appeared. She feels a sense of sadness, he seemed nice she wanted to get to know him better. It’s only later that evening when she’s lying awake in bed as her mother sleeps next to her, does she realize she doesn’t even know the mysterious boy’s name.

A couple days later she is still thinking of the boy and she asks her mother about it.

“That was your soulmate.”

“My what?”

“Your soulmate, your other half, the person your soul is connected to." At Beth's confused face she explains. "Every time someone is born at the exact same moment somewhere else in the world someone else is born. These two souls are linked together, they are soulmates. These soulmates are connected, you always have a sense of the other, where they are what they’re feeling and sometimes you can even visit them. You get pulled into their world and can feel and see everything around them.” 

“So that’s what happened to the boy, he came and visited me?”

“Yes.”

“Can I visit him?”

“Maybe if you try really hard. But be careful you don’t want to be stuck somewhere you don’t know with a stranger.”

“But he’s not a stranger, he's my soulmate.”

Beth doesn't see the boy again for a few weeks and then suddenly he is next to her. She is out at the park with her mother, playing on the swings, when the boy appears on the swing next to her, the same blond hair and brown eyes that she remembers.

“You’re my soulmate.” It’s not a question, simply a fact.

“I think so.” He replies, just as blunt.

“What’s your name?”

“Benny. Watts.”

“Beth Harmon.”

They don’t have time to really talk to each other, Beth’s mother calls her to go home and Benny has to get back to wherever he’s supposed to be. But now Beth has a name. Benny Watts. Her soulmate.

Over the next few months, Beth learns more about Benny. His favourite colour is green, he lives in Boston with his parents and older sister, he likes to watch the boats down at the harbour and is really smart. She even manages to visit him a couple times. They keep trying until about once a week one of them visits the other. Sometimes they talk, sometimes they sit in silence, sometimes one of them is doing something and the other follows quietly around.

One night Beth lies in bed in the trailer her mother had finally settled on moving them to. She focuses on Benny and the feeling she has in the back of her mind that she knows is him. She closes her eyes and tries to pull on the invisible string that connects the two of them. She feels the warmth before anything else, the feeling of someone else sitting next to her. She opens her eyes and realizes she is in Benny’s room. They’re sitting in his bed and Benny’s sister is sitting at the end of the bed reading.

Benny turns to look at her when she arrives and smiles.

“Hi.” She whispers.

“Hi.” He whispers back.

“Benny, what are you doing?” The older girl sitting at the end of the bed asks.

“I’m talking to Beth.”

“Who’s Beth?”

“My soulmate.”

“You already know your soulmate?”

“Yes her name is Beth Harmon and she lives in Kentucky. Beth, this is my older sister Mary.” Beth waves to Mary and Benny tells her she says hi, Mary waves back and smiles slightly. 

“Well, would she like to stay for the rest of the chapter?” Benny looks to Beth and she shrugs in agreement, he turns back to his sister and nods. Beth isn’t really sure what’s happening in the story but likes the way Benny cuddles up next to her. By the time the chapter ends she’s already falling asleep. 

“Okay end of the chapter bud. Goodnight. It was nice to meet you, Beth.” Mary closes the book and sets it on the bedside table then gets up to leave. She turns off the lights and is about to close the door when she turns back. “Benny, be careful with your soulmate. Don’t tell mom and dad about her.” Benny nods next to her and Mary closes the door behind herself and leaves. Beth and Benny don’t talk anymore; they simply curl up next to each other and fall asleep. When Beth wakes up the next morning she’s back in her own bed. 

The next few years pass, both Benny and Beth growing up. Their separate houses are falling apart. Benny starts spending more time with Beth, to get away from the screaming in his house. Sometimes he shows up with bruises, but he refuses to talk about them. Beth watches as her mother devolves. Stands griping Benny’s hand so tight it hurts as her mother tears down everything in their trailer and brings it out back to burn. She watches the way the flames turn the books and pictures to ash. She sees the way her mother’s eyes glint in the firelight and it almost scares her.

The one salvation they find is in chess. Benny gets gifted a set one year for Christmas and they teach themselves how to play through books from the library. Mary offers to play against them and they quickly start beating her, getting faster and faster until she decides they are well above her. She starts bringing Benny, and Beth by proxy, to the park on Saturdays. There are boards set up with people playing. The sailors from the near-by docks in their uniforms and old men with their shirt sleeves rolled up, smoking as they move the wooden pieces between themselves.

They play against these men and quickly start beating them too. They take turns playing, though to the outside world it’s always Benny’s body sitting across from them half the time it is actually Beth sitting in the seat. Individually they are incredible but together they are a force of nature. When they play together, reaching over each other to move pieces and talking through moves and strategies, they are unstoppable. Their brains work together in perfect harmony, easily working side by side to beat people who have been playing for decades. 

It’s at one of these Saturdays in the park that a man approaches Benny and Mary.

“Hi, I’m Henry Wallace, the director of regional tournaments for the National Chess Federation. Have you ever thought about competing in chess tournaments lad?” 

“There are chess tournaments?” Benny asks, already excited at the idea.

“Yes, you can win money playing in them if you’re really good.”

“I’m really good.”

“Yes, you are. There’s a tournament coming up at the end of the month, you should enter.” Benny immediately turns to his sister.

“Can I?”

“I don’t know, we’d have to talk to mom and dad.”

“Well here’s the information if you want to.” The man hands Marry a piece of paper and disappears back into the crowd of men.

Benny and Mary manage to convince their parents to let him enter the tournament. The idea of the $200 prize money is what does it. They tell Benny he must win, grab at his arm hard enough to bruise when they do. 

Beth makes sure to clear her schedule for the weekend of the tournament, not that she has much of one as it is. Her mother is in one of her states and doesn’t seem to notice Beth spending her weekend staring at a blank wall unfocused and mumbling to herself. 

Mary and Benny take the bus across town to the community centre that the tournament is being held at on Friday afternoon. Mary signs him in with little trouble, the man from before recognizes them and helps them bypass any pushback. They enter the larger room, it’s filled with older men all wandering around getting ready to play. Mary goes and finds what table Benny’s supposed to be at and leads him there. She crouches down next to him as he sits down. 

“Is Beth here?” She knows that Benny and Beth have been playing together, how good they are together. She’s the only person who knows about it, Beth had told her mother about Benny but not the chess, she likes having that secret for herself. 

Benny nods and reaches out to bump Beth’s leg, she’s standing next to him, alternating between watching Mary and the crowd. 

“Good, hi Beth.” Mary addresses her. “Now the two of you stick together, I don’t know anything about chess but I know you’re really good. I’ll be right here if you need anything. Now go and win.” She ruffles Benny’s hair then takes a few steps away so she can watch from the wall. Benny then turns to Beth.

“Are you ready?” He asks. He’s giddy with excitement. Beth is a bit more reserved, watching the crowd waiting for their opponent to arrive. She meets his eyes and can’t help the small smile the breaks across her face.

“Ready. Let’s beat them all.” She says and they both grin. Their first opponent comes and sits down. He’s a kind-looking old man who explains the rules for the tournament. He gets beaten in a matter of minutes.

Beth lets Benny play on his own for most of the games, only occasionally reaching over to move a piece and set him up for a combination he doesn’t see. Mostly though she watches, she doesn’t stray far from the table he’s playing at but she watches the other games, other competitors. In one corner of the hall, there’s a sign advertising the top boards. She knows the people playing there are the actual competition. If they want to win the top prizes they have to play there. 

By the second day people have started watching Benny’s games. They follow him from board to board, watching as he crushes each of his opponents. Beth starts paying more attention to the games now, hovering over Benny’s shoulder in case he needs her help. There are a couple times where he sits back and she leans forward and studies the board, runs through the potential combinations in her head, whispering the possibilities to the boy next to her, knowing only he can hear. When they figure out the move he leans forward on his elbows again and confidently moves his piece. 

The finals come and Benny is up against the best in the city, a man with spiky hair and a confident smirk as he sits down across from a small child. Beth had watched his games over the weekend, she had to admit he was pretty good. She was still confident they could beat him but she knew it would be close. He made his first move and Beth’s mind immediately went into overdrive calculating all the possible outcomes from this moment. Benny reaches one hand out and grips hers the other he uses to carefully move his pawn. 

The longer the game continues the bigger the crowd that gathers. The wiper amongst themselves every time a piece moves. Both Beth and Benny are focused on the game in front of them. They are playing together now, both invested in it. They discuss moves with each other, Benny humming under his breath at Beth’s suggestions. One of them will reach out and move a piece with a steady determination when they come to an agreement. 

In the end, they win, just like they said they would. The man with the spiky hair reaches across the table and shakes Benny’s hand.

“Wow, kid. You really are something special.” He says, focusing back on the board. 

Beth leaves Benny to collect his trophy and prize money. Later when he’s back at home he visits her and hugs her tight. 

“Thank you. I couldn’t have won without you.”

“Yes, you could have.” 

“Maybe but I like having you around.”

“I like having you around too.”


End file.
